River's
by FloatingCloudBadger
Summary: When the Doctor meets Isabella, he thinks that in a way she seems familiar. Isabella, however, does not remember him at all. One thing the Doctor is sure of, however, is that he recognises her father.
1. 1

**1**

Amy Pond was used to the Doctor dragging her around cold, misty places. She was used to Wales, she was used to moors, and she was used to leaving Rory behind (by accident, of course). But this time, this damp day in Pembrokeshire was mean tot be her honeymoon.

"Where are we _going_?" she demanded, brushing hair out of her hair.

The Doctor didn't even look around at her. "It's a surprise!" he said cheerfully.

"It had better be a good one," she warned him. "This is meant to be our honeymoon!"

In front of her, the Doctor stopped suddenly, and for a moment, Amy couldn't work out why he looked so puzzled, and why he was blushing so furiously.

Then she turned red herself.

"I mean me and Rory's honeymoon!" she said exasperatedly.

The Doctor coughed, and started to walk again and Amy had to hurry to catch up with him. By now, they must have left Rory far, far behind.

Amy giggled internally as they finally reached the bottom of the hill and a concrete building loomed in front of them.

"Where in the name of-" began Amy, but the Doctor, beaming all over his face again, turned to face her.

"Joseph McKnag's Correctional School," he interrupted her, looking out into the bustling corridor again, "For Curiously Disturbed Girls."


	2. 2

**2**

It took Amy a full few seconds to recover.

"You took me to a _school_?" she managed to say indignantly at last. "I'm just married, and you brought me to a school."

The Doctor didn't even look at her. "Why not?" he said gaily.

"You've got a spaceship," Amy reminded him. "We could go to… Mars!

"But Mars doesn't have Curiously Disturbed Girls, does it?"

Amy blinked, then grinned. "Future girlfriends, eh?"

"Oi," warned the Doctor, giving her a stern look. "I'm here strictly on busine-"

But before he'd got the sentence out, he gave Amy a cause to snigger at him.

As he finished his final word, a pretty teacher walked by, smiling at the surprised Doctor, who in turn blushed, coughed and ignored Amy as hard as he could.

"Right," he muttered after a minute. "Headmaster's office."

Amy, who had stopped laughing, blinked at him. "Headmaster's office?"

"Yeah, I'd like to meet the guy," he said, offhand. "Sounds interesting."

They continued to weave their way through the crowds of very normal looking girls.

"How do you know where you're going?" asked Amy. "And anyway-"

But hearing footsteps behind her, Amy stopped short, and grinned sheepishly at the boy scowling at her.

"Sorry, Rory?"

Rory sighed. "I wish you two wouldn't go off and leave me."

"We won't."

"Where's the Doctor anyway?"

Amy started around to point, then realised that he hadn't bothered to wait for the two of them.

"Headmaster's office," she said exasperatedly.

Rory chuckled nervously. "What's he done now?"

Amy rolled her eyes.


	3. 3

**3**

**A/N – I have reviews! Yay! =D and in response to the person who asked why there was no Rory… just wait until chapter 4 =P**

Amy and Rory caught up with the Doctor just as he was knocking on the door to the Headmaster's office.

"Knocking, really?" muttered Amy, but the Doctor ignored her, and a few seconds later, a call came from inside the office.

"Come in!"

Hesitating no further, the Doctor pushed open the door and grinned widely at the rather stern man before him.

"John Smith," he said brightly, walking in and starting on peer at everything on the shelves.

The headmaster looked dumbfounded.

"Can I help you…?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah," said the Doctor, spinning around and handing him a piece of paper. "You sent me this letter. I'm the new… supply teacher."

The headmaster looked puzzled for a minute, but when he picked up the letter, his expression cleared, and turned into a smile.

"Ah," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry Mr Smith-" (the Doctor suppressed a smile) "- I almost forgot we needed supply teachers."

"No worries," he said absently, going back to his examination.

The headmaster didn't seem to have even noticed Amy and Rory.

"I'm Graham Matthews," he said, trying to get the Doctor's attention again. "Do you need to be shown around the school?"

"Nope, I'm good."

The headmaster looked puzzled. "Right then," he said uncertainly. "Well, here's the schedule, you're in Room 17… Are you sure you don't need guided?"

"Nope," the Doctor repeated, turning around to face him. "I'll be fine."

Reaching out to take the envelope, the Doctor stopped and turned around to the doorway where Rory was standing, timid, and Amy was standing, irritated.

"Oh," he added. "You've got jobs for these two as well, I trust?"

"Of course," said Matthews. "Yes. Yes, you mentioned them."

He pulled out two more envelopes and Amy strode forwards to take them, handing one to Rory and keeping one for herself.

"Geronimo!" barked the Doctor, grinning at Matthews, and half-skipping from the room.

When they were out in corridor, Amy started to talk.

"Nice of you to introduce us."

There was a pause.

"I was busy," muttered the Doctor, as he started to stride down the corridor, Amy following and Rory scuttling behind him.

But Rory had other concerns. "Wait, I'm teaching?"

"Yep."

"But…" spluttered Rory. "I'm not a teacher."

"Neither am I."

"So… what am I teaching?"

The Doctor sighed. "Don't be such a _pansy_."

"But how should I know?"

"Look in your envelope!" he said, turning around suddenly and giving him a wide-eyed look. "That's what it's for!"

Giving the Doctor a sideways glance, Rory did just that.

And groaned.

"Dance," said Rory, exasperated. "I'm teaching _dance_."

Amy sniggered.

"Well, what've you two got?" he said defensively, hoping that the Doctor's was worse than his.

"Ha ha, Drama," said Amy, beaming at Rory and laughing.

But as the Doctor opened his envelope, he too groaned.

"I'm teaching _Maths_?" he said despairingly. "Oh, that's bad."

Inside the headmaster's office, Graham Matthews heard the laughter and shook his head slightly, doubtful about what exactly he had let himself in for.


	4. 4

**4**

**A/N – Just for the record, I would definitely be one of the 20 ;]**

Amy, seeing the scowl that Rory was giving her, finally managed to stop laughing at his tap shoes.

"Good luck," she managed to choke out.

Rory sighed.

###

"Are you the new teacher?"

Rory had been standing outside the door of the dance hall working up his courage to go in when he heard a girl's voice behind him.

He turned around, saw a fourteen year old, paled slightly and nodded.

"Grace Harkness," she said, grinning at him and pointing at her name sticker. "You do know that's the hall?"

Rory nodded again.

"Yeah, I thought so," she said, looking amused. "Come on."

Slightly puzzled at the way she seemed to be taking charge, Rory let Grace clasp her hand around his elbow and drag him into the hall.

Immediately, the girls started exchanging glances and whispers, giggling.

"That's him."

"He is quite, isn't he?"

"I can see what you mean."

Feeling slightly like he was part of a freak show, Rory coughed and went to fiddle with the CD player, pretending to be sorting something. It took him several minutes to realise that Grace had long left him and gone to join the hordes.

When it had finally gotten quiet enough that Rory had stopped trembling, he turned around to face them.

"Er… right," he said, his voice high. "Well, er… what've you done so far this year? Can I… see, or…?" he trailed off as they started getting into position. "Right, yeah, good."

He leant against the wall as they started into some kind of complex movements to a Police song. The dance itself didn't look too hard, but Rory would have to move, which at the moment looked like a problem.

It wasn't long before they finished, and Rory was on the spot.

"Stretches," he managed to mumble. "Let's do some stretches."

He was so wrapped up in not falling over that he didn't even notice when they all started giggling again.

And as he finished leading the stretches and panicked about what to do next, he definitely didn't notice he now had about 20 girls in love with him.

###

When the bell rung, Rory could hardly wait for them all to leave so he could go to the staff room and find Amy, or at least just collapse into a chair.

But, of course, his trials were nowhere near over.

He was leaning against the wall, trying not to collapse when, once again, he heard Grace's distinctive American voice.

"Mr Williams?"

Rory jumped.

"Miss Pond asked me to tell you she wants to meet you in the Drama room," she said, again looking amused.

Rory swallowed and nodded. "Er, alright," he said, but then he remembered something.

"She's Mrs Williams now," he said proudly.

"Oh," said Grace, looking puzzled. "That's… good."

The truth in this made Rory smile his firs real smile of the day.

Grace shook her head slightly, grinning, and then went to leave.

"Wait," said Rory, suddenly thinking of something. "Where is the Drama room exactly?"

"Should I show you?"

"Er, yes."

Grace didn't seem surprised at all.

The two of them set off through the school, grace confident, Rory awkward.

"So," said Grace at last. "When you say that Miss Pond is Mrs Williams, do you mean she's married to you?"

"Yes," said Rory, almost defiantly.

"Oh." She nodded, then seemed to stifle a laugh. "You should probably share that a little more."

"Why?" said Rory suspiciously, immediately worried that Amy had started snogging the Doctor in the middle of a lesson.

"Because," said Grace, stifling a smile. "The rest of the class."

"The rest of the class what?"

Grace grinned, "Nothing. That's the Drama room."

Rory sighed, resigning himself to never knowing what the rest of the class thought of him, though it did worry him when they kept smiling at him. "Thank you, Grace."

"Welcome," she said, before turning around and running off to join two other girls outside the dinner hall.

After checking the sign above the door to see that it was indeed the Drama room, Rory pushed open the door.


	5. 5

**5**

**A/N – Anyone getting the theme yet?**

Amy really wished that the Doctor had accepted the tour the headmaster had offered, because, five minutes before she was mean to teach a drama lesson, she had no idea where she was meant to be going.

Seeing a red-haired girl pass her, Amy grabbed her by the arm.

"Excuse me," she said. "You don't know where the Drama room is, do you?"

The girl nodded. "Are you the new teacher, then?"

"Yep," smiled Amy.

"Oh, OK," said the girl brightly. "I'm Alex Smith, I'll be in your class, shall I show you where the hall is? I suppose that would probably be a good idea, I mean otherwise you'd be hours trying to find it. It's a big school, isn't it? I was quite lost when _I_ started."

Amy's first thought was that Alex talked faster than anyone she had ever known. Then she realised she was expected to answer.

"Yes, please," Amy half-muttered at last. "That'd be good."

"OK," said Alex cheerfully again. "Follow me."

Slightly worried, Amy did so.

After barely a minute, Alex started talking again.

"Are you married to Mr Williams? Because you two have the same name and we heard you live together. Well, to be honest it was just a rumour, but Grace thought that it was true, she said it was the kind of rumour that sounded true, but don't you think a lot of rumours sound true? I always believe them, I'm so gullible. I suppose I shouldn't be, I mean, my mum's a reporter, she always investigates things, I just believe them."

"Right," said Amy warily. "I mean, yeah, we're married."

"Oh, that's nice," said Alex fondly. "My mum says that men always want to marry redheads, but I think that was because she's a redhead. Well, she would be really, I suppose. But then once my brother Luke gave her this weird look and said that redheads wanted to marry doctors. And then Mum looked all embarrassed and left the room. But I was just confused."

By this point, Amy had completely zoned out from the conversation, and so as Alex and her walked to the Drama room, Amy was taking more notice of the school and the slightly strange paintings on the wall than she was of Alex.

Though, when she looked at Alex, she had a very distinct feeling that she recognised her from somewhere. Maybe it was just that she was a fellow redhead or maybe it was that she had seen a lot of people with the Doctor. Alex was "Curiously Disturbed" (little as Amy could work out what that meant). But when Amy looked at Alex's dark eyes, Amy knew that it wasn't just that.

But what it was she couldn't quite fathom.

Of course, if Amy had been listening harder, she might have been interested to know what Alex's mum was called.

###

After the (slightly disastrous) lesson had finished, Amy felt that she needed to see either Rory or the Doctor, so she stuck her head out the door and again grabbed the nearest girl.

"Excuse me," she said again. "Do you know where I can find the Do- the maths teacher, Mr Smith, or Mr Williams?"

The girl, who looked a little amused, nodded. "I don't know where Mr Smith is, but Mr Williams is in the Sports Hall. Should I get him?"

"If you don't mind," said Amy, a little surprised. "Could you ask him to come here?"

The dark-haired girl nodded.

Amy had thought that Drama might be an easy subject to teach, but, judging from her experience, she had had to change her mind.

Apparently, with the last teacher, all they had done was make fun of him – apparently by calling him "Wise Owl" and theorising about whether or not he was gay, and now with Amy, they seemed bent on continuing the tradition.

She was "Pigeon", from what she could tell.

Why she didn't know.

So after some painful warm-up improvising, Amy fell back on her reserve plan and just sat and talked to them for the entire lesson.

Admittedly, they had been able to tell her some interesting things, but it wasn't exactly the way she had pictured the lesson.

One of the things they had shared was –

About Rory

One of the funniest things she had ever heard, ever.

She still laughed when she thought about it. The idea of nearly a whole school of teenage girls being completely in love with Rory was frankly hilarious, or at least to her. If Rory knew (which she doubted. It had taken Rory about 2 years to realise that _she_ liked him), she imagined that he wouldn't find it funny at all.


	6. 6

**6**

**A/N – I just looked on Youtube and there's a deleted scene where the Doctor says he likes Rory… very much. I think the girls at Joseph McKnag's Correctional School might not be the only ones with a crush on Rory =P**

The Doctor never got lost.

If he did manage to find himself in a dead end, or down a wrong turning, he tended to just blast the wall open temporarily and see where it came out.

But while he never got lost, he did tend to forget things.

He claimed that it was because he had so much to think about, from bow ties and fezzes to aliens and Sarah Jane Smith, but Amy seemed to think it was just because he wouldn't pay attention.

As he was in the English department, the Doctor realised that yet again he had forgotten something, and, as usual, he suddenly muttered "darn," and turned around to walk in the other direction.

Today, he had forgotten something major. On the way to his first Maths lesson (which, try as he might, the Doctor couldn't get excited about) he was meant to find a new girl from the office and take her with him.

He had half a mind to accidentally leave her behind so as to spare her from the horrors that were sure to follow when he had to teach Maths, but then, when he remembered, he decided that he probably should.

However, if she didn't want to come, he might just happen to lose her along the way.

When he finally came bouncing in, the only person he could see was a girl sitting with her back to him, facing the window, her blond curls bouncing whenever she moved.

In the office, the Doctor had an even stronger sense that something was wrong. All through the school, he had felt it. Something wasn't right, but what it was exactly he couldn't put his finger on.

He hadn't told Amy or Rory. That was another thing about the Doctor – often, when he wasn't sure of something, he would just keep it to himself until he couldn't anymore.

He checked the note he had been given by one of the teachers. "Pick up Isabella, new girl, from office before the lesson."

_Right, then,_ he thought, already worrying that she was a slitheen. _Isabella_. _Isabella, that's a funny name, it's kinda like two names joined together - _

"Isabella?" he said out loud, interrupting himself.

She turned around and smiled at him. "Hello sweetie."


	7. 7

**7**

**A/N – I finally updated! Except probably this chapter wasn't worth waiting months for, but at least it's up now =L**

The Doctor blinked.

"Hello," he said quietly, scanning the girl's face as if waiting for River to jump out from her. "Maths, then?"

Isabella nodded, still grinning at him as though she knew more than him.

As they began down the corridor, the Doctor began his investigations, as he always did.

This girl wasn't River. Why would she be? That wasn't logical. That made no sense. There was absolutely no reason why River would be there, pretending to be a new girl. It completely wasn't River.

And, besides, she couldn't be. She might have looked like River –especially from the hair –but she had a different name, and somehow the Doctor didn't thinks she was lying when she told him. Plus this girl didn't even seem to know him, and River could never pull that off.

Anyway, she hadn't told him off for his bowler hat.

Definitely not River.

But there was something odd about the way she'd greeted him. That was how River always greeted him. Always, and yet this girl, this teenager, had said that to him.

He would've said it was a coincidence, but he didn't believe in coincidences.

"So," he said, putting on his investigators voice, surreptitiously scanning the walls with his screwdriver. "Isabella. Ever met anyone called Brenda?"

He had figured that getting friendly with this girl might be a good idea, so that was why he had decided to ask her questions, but as soon as it was out of his mouth, he was slightly terrified by the look the girl gave him.

"No," she said suspiciously. "Why?"

"I've never met anyone called Brenda," he told her. "It's just interesting. Some people have met Brendas and some people haven't."

She blinked at him, but seemed to be concentrating on something else. "Those socks are weird."

The Doctor looked back down at the girl next to him and frowned.

"No, they're not," he said indignantly. "They're cool. Multi-coloured socks are cool."

"No," she said firmly.

"They are if you're an interesting person," he said, giving her a meaningful look.

"If you're such an interesting person, why do you teach maths?"

That was a good question.

"Because…" The Doctor paused. "I have _no_ idea. It's a very boring job." He paused again. "Except that I can write on the board without looking at it."

"I'm sure everyone will be astounded by that," Isabella said dryly.

There was a long pause, as the Doctor continued to pretend he knew where he was going, all the while watching Isabella closely.

"You're a Time Lord, aren't you?"

Now that was even odder.

The Doctor stared at her.

"Your hands have slightly raised veins, your feet are slightly too small for your shoes, but not enough to be a size smaller and you know, you just have that look," she said, in a way that could have been casual if the Doctor wasn't sure that she really wanted to know. But then she grinned and said – "I like archaeology. You pick up on things."

"I hate archaeologists," he mumbled back.

Not surprisingly, neither the Doctor nor Isabella made it to Maths.

"Tell me, Isabella," said the Doctor, spotting the poster and changing the subject simultaneously. "What do the counsellors do at this school?"

"Counsel people," she said, not seeming surprised at all.

"You know what I mean," he said impatiently, giving her a look.

Isabella considered, looking around to check who would overhear. Then she spoke. "They told me it was if you ever had problems _adjusting_," she said slowly. "But I don't think… Mr Smith, you know as well as I do that people at this school aren't normal."

The Doctor couldn't resist smiling slightly.

"So what's wrong with you, then?" he asked.

She paused. "I've seen things," she said shortly.

But then she grinned, looking at the Doctor. Seeing the look on his face, she laughed, talking him by the hand and pulled him into the nearest cupboard. "And I intend to see some more," she said, grinning broadly.

The Doctor stared at her as she pulled him closer to her, still, from what the Doctor could see in the dark cupboard, grinning.

Then, her arms firmly around his waist, she moved her face up to his and started snogging him.

It was a surprise, but the Doctor was rather enjoying it.

Little as he wanted to, the Doctor pulled away. "But you're younger than me," he muttered. "There's an age gap."

"You're a 950 year old Time Lord," she whispered back, grinning at him. "There's always going to be an age gap."

The Doctor paused. "Fair enough," he managed to say before she pulled him into a snog again.


	8. 8

**8**

**A/N – I would always listen to Rory's news.**

When the Doctor reached the Drama room, slightly shell-shocked, Amy and Rory were sitting drinking coffee and looking rather at home.

_When the bell had rung, the two of them had already finished snogging, having been startled out of it by a loud bang._

"_Let's investigate, shall we?" Isabella had said in a low voice, immediately. The Doctor, seeing her reach into her pocket for something, didn't argue and followed her out into the corridor. _

_They had looked, but they hadn't been able to find anything._

"_That's odd."_

"_Yeah. Yeah, it is."_

_The Doctor looked at Isabella, who was still staring around, seemingly taking it all in. "I think there are probably better places to look, you know."_

"_Yes," she said thoughtfully, finally pulling her eyes away from the hall and looking up at him._

_They had both paused._

"_Counsellor's office?"_

"_Yep."_

He had been thinking over what had happened with Isabella. Firstly, the way she had greeted him - the way a certain other person always greeted him – and then how she had known he was a Time Lord. And, of course, there was the undeniable connection between them.

It was just all rather odd.

And the school was hardly normal. The counsellors – the girls not being normal – everyone staring at Rory – the fact that they needed 3 supply teachers at all was odd. Something was going on. The Doctor thought back to where he had left the Tardis. On his way to the Drama room (where he assumed Amy would be), he had checked on it – it was fine. Luckily.

Just as he was coming to that part of his thoughts, Rory shook him out of his reverie.

"Amy," the Doctor heard him say, annoyed. "You're staring."

"Oh, shut up," she said, continuing to stare at the Music teacher. "Hey, Doctor."

The Doctor sat down beside her, ignoring the rest of the room. He quietly got out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning everything.

"So," said the Doctor quietly. "What've we got?"

"Not a lot, really," said Amy. "I don't really see that there is something going on."

"I-"

"Of course there is!" said the Doctor indignantly. "If not, why are they all here?"

The Doctor sat up a little straighter, staring at Amy. The staff room were all averting their eyes now.

"Doctor-"

"I don't know, do I?" said Amy crossly. "It just doesn't seem that bad. They seem like nice kids."

"I found-"

"I'm not denying that," said the Doctor, blushing a little at the memory of Isabella. "It's just that why are they all here? I mean, my screwdriver doesn't detect anything alien, and no one _says_ that anything's up-"

"Right, well, I guess no one wants to hear my news."

The two of them turned to look at Rory, who was sitting resentfully looking at the two of them. Neither of them had really heard him talk before, but judging from his tone, he apparently had been.

They really needed to start listening to him.

Ah, well.

"Fine, what's your news?" said Amy, not ungracefully.

Rory paused, sitting forward a little bit. Amy and the Doctor both waited for him to speak, partly out of politeness, but (for the Doctor at least) because they did believe that he honestly had something important to say.

"It's parent's evening tonight," he said quietly.

###

The Doctor had put on a tie.

He didn't really want to. He didn't like ties. Bow ties, maybe, but not normal ties. Not any more. They made him feel old, but he put one on anyway. All the other teachers (including Rory, which made him laugh) had done it. If he was to fit in with their little clique, he had to put on a tie.

He was focusing on that as the parents started to enter. It was itching him, and he really hated things itching him. It made it very difficult to pay attention.

He had sat in the middle of the hall, with Rory at one end and Amy at the other (swapping desks with a "Mr Simm" – though not with his consent) so as to know what was going on. He liked to know what was going on. But that damned tie – so itchy! It meant that he was barely noticing anything at all.

That is, until he looked up, saw two familiar faces and grinned.

###

Rory was sitting on the other side of the sports hall to the Doctor. He wasn't entirely sure of this whole thing, though it had been his idea. Kind of. He had only taught these girls for one lesson – he had no idea what any of them were like, and he only knew about four names. This could only end in disaster.

But he put up with it. Maybe it was a bad idea, but the quicker they found out what was going on, the quicker they could leave.

So Rory sat at his desk, trying to avoid eye contact with the other teachers, most of whom had made it clear that they were not going to be friendly. They did not seem to believe that Rory, Amy and the Doctor had just appeared the day after they had needed teachers, and so were staying clear. Rory, who didn't like people not liking him, was steering clear.

This was another reason, in Rory's mind, that they should not have gone to parents' evening.

He swallowed as two men approached him, led by Grace. This wasn't going to go well, Rory just knew it. Trying to look as though he knew what he was doing, he sat up straighter and smiled nervously.

"Hello, Mr Williams," said one of the men in a confident voice. "This is Alonso Frame, and I'm Jack Harkness. Pleased to meet you."

###

Across the room, Amy was having similarly negative thoughts about the whole idea. Her first appointment was coming up – though it was Alex she had to see, and so was feeling most confident about this one, it still didn't seem like a brilliant idea. It was only a minute before she saw a woman with reddish-brown hair approach her with Alex.

She didn't feel exactly confident, but stood up to shake her hand as she had seen countless teachers do over the years.

"Hi, I'm Mrs Amy Williams," she said, trying to be teacherly.

The woman took Amy's hand and shook it firmly. "Sarah Jane Smith," she said.


	9. 9

**9**

"Sarah!"

Sarah Jane looked up on impulse, despite how much she detested being called Sarah, but when she saw who it was, her face lit up and she ran over to throw her arms around his neck.

"Doctor," she said, delighted. "Oh, I'm barely surprised! What have you been doing since the Shansheeth?"

The Doctor smiled, looking at that woman who he had seen through so many eyes. "Well-"

"Mum…?"

Sarah Jane and the Doctor looked down to see Alex, wide-eyed and puzzled looking.

"Hello," said the Doctor, before Sarah Jane could say anything. He took her hand and shook it. "I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you." He turned to Sarah Jane. "Biologically yours this time?"

Sarah Jane gave him a look. "No. She's one of Cofelia's clones. The ones she made before the Adipose?"

The Doctor looked down at Alex with interest. "Well, I never thought Cofelia would try that," he said, seemingly fascinated. "How long before? I suppose it couldn't have b-"

The Doctor was surprised the Amy had stayed so politely quite during the whole exchange – Alex had been saying "mum?" in an increasingly frustrated voice throughout the whole conversation – but he wasn't surprised when he turned to her on interruption and saw her scowl. He was even less surprised when she burst out with –

"Doctor. Who's this?"

He turned to face her properly, smiling a little.

"Amy Pond, meet Sarah Jane Smith," he said proudly, while they were shaking hands. "Oh," he added. "And over there, flirting with Rory, that's Jack Harkness."

The four of them looked over to where Rory was standing, uncomfortable, with Jack (who was indeed flirting), Grace looking embarrassed and Alonso looking resigned. Amy stifled a laugh, but the Doctor could see that she was blushing a little bit. Apparently Jack's charm was such that he could make a woman fall in love with him from the opposite side of a room.

"Let's go see _him_," said Amy, grinning. She turned to Sarah Jane as she did so, and started to talk as they walked across the room.

The Doctor was surprised at how well Amy was dealing with Sarah Jane. It was obvious who she was – that she had travelled with the Doctor – of course it was. But it didn't seem to bother Amy. They even seemed to be getting on quite well. The Doctor could remember his experience with Rose, when she had met Sarah Jane - how jealous she had been – and, though he was glad he didn't have to deal with that again, he was a little puzzled.

Then they reached Rory's table and at once, the Doctor could see how awkward Jack was making Rory, and smiled.

"Jack," he said warningly. "Stop that."

In the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw Rory look half annoyed and half amused, but ignored him, as usual. He was concentrating on Jack, who had turned around to see him – for a moment, the Doctor expected his usual grin, but then realised something as his eyes slid right over him, barely even giving him a look for knowing his name, and landed on Sarah Jane.

Jack didn't know who he was. How was he supposed to? The last time they had met, the Doctor was a different man.

That was probably the worst thing, the Doctor realised. He recognised everyone – but they didn't recognise him.

So, seeing nothing else he could do, the Doctor waited while Jack greeted Sarah Jane.

"Sarah Jane Smith, have I missed you," the Doctor watched him say excitedly, his eyes lighting up as he hugged her. "Do you have a kid here too?"

"Yes, said Sarah Jane, returning his hug just as excitedly. "This is Alex," she said, pointing to her. Jack grinned, and Sarah Jane turned to Grace. "Is this your daughter?"

"Yep, this is Grace," he said proudly. "Biologically mine _and _Alonso's, thanks to the wonderful genetic sciences of Raxicoricofallapatorious."

"Ooh, not sure you want to trust that lot."

The Doctor had barely meant to speak, but as soon as he did, Jack turned to look at him, ad little puzzled.

"Hi, I'm Jack Harkness," he said hesitantly.

The Doctor grinned. "Yes," he said happily. "I know."

By this point, Jack was looking more than puzzled. He turned to Sarah Jane, who was grinning as well, and then something seemed to click.

"Doctor!" he said, sounding even more delighted. "My God, you've changed!"

"Yes, I have," he said, smiling. "I see you've got yourself a little family."

Jack smirked. "Yeah, well," he said. "Still got the old charm." Then he grinned, looking back at Amy and Rory. "Anyway, you've got yourself a little married couple, haven't you? I hear this dashing young man," (he paused to wink at Rory) is married to Amy here."

The Doctor couldn't help but giggle inwardly at the look on both Rory and Amy's faces - the proudness on Rory's at having pulled Amy and the disappointment on her that she couldn't flirt with Jack. But before he could laugh at Amy, Alex interrupted his thoughts.

"Doctor," she said, sounding a little worried. "I think there's someone waiting to see you."

Sighing, the Doctor looked over to where he had abandoned his table, expecting to see some random girl who he could easily blow off, but when he saw who it was, he grinned. He couldn't help it.

Finally, some news.

For standing there, looking not even slightly nervous, was Isabella.

The Doctor was immediately attentive. He could do nothing but walk over and talk to her – knowing her, the news she must be bringing was important.

However, had he been looking over to the door, he might have seen something even more important.

Walking through the door was another old friend.

A very old friend.


	10. 10

**10**

"Isabella," said the Doctor in a low voice, when he reached her. "News?"

Isabella blinked, but then she smiled slightly. "No," she said, tossing her hair back. "I'm here for parents' evening."

The Doctor felt his face pale. _Oh dear_, he though frantically. _Oh my God, how was this going to work?_ He never talked to people's parents. He wasn't a parent person.

"So," he croaked. "I have to talk to your mum and dad?"

"Just my dad," said Isabella absently, obviously looking for him as she scanned the room.

Concentrating on his own worries, the Doctor didn't notice the note of panic in Isabella's. He snorted instead – she had acted like that might make it better. That was far worse! It was just going to be awkward. He sat down at his desk, Isabella across from him. He didn't look at her, but at the table, worried. When he heard footsteps approaching, he didn't look up until Isabella spoke.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," she whispered.

It was a second before he realised she was speaking in High Gallifreyan.

Slowly, he looked up, more than worried how. She wouldn't meet his gaze, but kept staring behind him, but something told him he didn't want to look around. But then he heard a voice.

"I see you've met my daughter," said the Master.


	11. 11

**11**

**A/N - RIP Elisabeth Sladen. You will be missed**

The Doctor sprung up and span around. And there he was – he could see him – there he was, standing there, still Harold Saxon. Still _alive_. He had died – the Doctor had seen him. He had died, and there he was, alive and smiling. He was just standing there, smiling. It was that smile that gave him away as the Master. He could have been in any body and had that smile, and the Doctor would know it was him.

_Oh God_, the Doctor heard himself think, but it wasn't even just pain or just anger, it was a mixture of everything. He had grown up with this man. He had been betrayed by this man. He had nearly got his family back thanks to him.

The only emotion that took any kind of place in the mess in his head was fear.

Then he spoke. "I'm back, buddy," he said softly. "Did you miss me?"

"What are you doing here?" said the Doctor, his teeth gritted, breathing heavily. "What do you want?"

The Master grinned.

"I'm here to use all this," he gestured around, "to my advantage!"

The Doctor straightened his back, getting ready to defend. "And what do you think you'll achieve?"

"Well," The Master considered. "I've got you here. I've got Jack Harkness, Alonso Frame, Sarah Jane Smith, Amy Pond, Rory Williams… Oh, and I've got your TARDIS." Seeing the look on the Doctor's face, he laughed. "Oh, you're always fun. If you didn't want someone to take it, why did you leave it unattended in my school?" He smirked. "But anyway, I'm sure I'll get something done with you guys all here. Oh, speaking of which-"

The Doctor took a step closer, seeing his smirk widen – but then he stopped. He couldn't move anymore. From across the room he heard Sarah Jane, Jack, Alonso, Amy and Rory cry out as he must have done. He could feel himself drifting closer to them and further away from the Master, but couldn't stop it.

And he could see the Master standing watching, that smile on his face, his_ daughter _standing beside him. Isabella, for some reason, was what he was focusing on, as he drifted back, completely unable to control it. He struggled, certainly, but he was staring straight at her. He couldn't believe it. He had trusted her. Why, he didn't know, but he had. And she was his daughter. She was the Master's daughter.

But then he heard a noise, a sharp piercing whistle, and looked around him. The girls were starting to line up in front of him as he drifted towards the wall. From what he could see of their faces, they were expressionless.

What was happening?

Then once again everything stopped as he thumped against the back wall. He stopped drifting and saw the others do the same next to him. They were pinned against the wall, the girls in neat lines in front of them.

"Say hello to my army," said the Master, grinning.


	12. 12

**12**

"What are you talking about?" cried Sarah Jane. "What are you doing to them?"

"Oh, come on, Sarah," scoffed the Master. "You didn't really think little Alex was getting counselling to help her adjust to her new environment and come to terms with the things she'd seen, did you? Did it not cross your mind that it was more likely that that I was giving your darling daughter psychic pollen so that when I wanted to I could turn her and all of her classmates into my own personal army?"

He laughed to himself as he watched them all struggle.

"You bastard," Jack snarled, as he continued to laugh. "You stupid, mental bastard, let them go!"

"Oh, but I'm not mental, Jack," he said calmly. "The drums are gone."

The Doctor had hoped that the Master was bluffing. He had hoped that it was a trick. After all, why young girls? But then he had told them to move and they had just done it. He really did have an army.

And him and Jack and Sarah Jane and Amy and Rory and Alonso had struggled, but they just couldn't move. They were completely trapped. What was going to happen to them now? All they could do was stand and wait for the Master to get them.

"Where the hell are they taking our kids?"

The Doctor looked up at Jack. He had never seen him like this. This angry. He was generally an easygoing sort of person, in a lot of ways, and it wasn't like Jack had anything to worry about. He would live forever. The Master physically couldn't kill him.

"I don't know, Jack," he said, frustrated. "The most important thing right now is getting away from here."

"But Doctor, who is that?" said Amy beside him, who was still struggling furiously. "How does he know us?"

"Well, you know I told you I was the last Time Lord?" he said, now reaching into his pocket to get his sonic screwdriver. "I lied. He's a Time Lord too. I thought he was dead."

"How can you not know when people are dead or not?"

The Doctor grimaced. "You've never seen me dying, have you, Rory?"

"What? You're not… You're immortal?"

"He's not immortal, he just regenerates," said Sarah Jane, interrupting the Doctor. "Doctor, what are you doing?"

By this point, the Doctor was wriggling desperately, trying his hardest to get to his pocket, but he couldn't move enough, and every time he tried to move sharply, he would get an electric shock.

"I can't… I can't get to my pocket," he panted, not looking at her as he tried even harder to move. "Why… Oh, that stupid…"

And it was getting more difficult too, because every time he tried to move he felt himself get more tired. Who knew what the Master was doing to him. Who knew when they would get out, if they got out at all, and who knew what would happen to Grace and Alex and Isabella…

"Doctor!"

Hearing the urgency in Sarah Jane's voice, he looked up. She was staring at him, her eyes bright and significant.

"What do you need, Doctor?" she said urgently.

He took a deep breath. He was just about to tell her his plan when he heard a voice from the doorway.

"Maybe us?"


	13. 13

**13**

"My mum's going to get really worried, isn't she?"

"Yeah, so are my dads, and the Doctor, and probably Miss Pond and Mr Williams. But we haven't got much of a choice, have we?"

"I know, but… I feel bad. She'll think they've done whatever they've done to everyone else to us."

"Yeah, but they haven't. It's _fine_, Alex. Where even are we, anyway?"

Grace had looked up at the room around her, carefully avoiding Alex's eye. It wasn't anywhere she had been before, though from the short time they had been marching, unable to see anything because it was so crowded, they couldn't have left the school.

She had been glad when Mr Tyler had stopped them all marching. Her and Alex hadn't been affected by whatever he had done, but it hadn't been nice watching all her friends march along, completely unaware. It was good that they had stopped now, and were all sitting relatively normally. She had stayed away, though – it was easier to avoid her other friends and sit with Alex, the only normal one there, other than her.

The problem with sitting with Alex was that she had had to pretend not to be scared. She felt almost older-sisterly towards her – and she was so innocent, even though the two were the same age. Grace had to protect her.

"It's the attic rooms," Alex had replied after a minute. "I've been here before, ages ago, and we walked up a lot of stairs, didn't we, and I don't think we walked down any, so we must be relatively high up. I don't know. I _think _it's the attic."

"Right," Grace had said grimly. "Well, that's not brilliant."

Alex had looked at her, slightly nonplussed. Grace had paused for a second, and then sighed and began to talk.

"We need to get out of here," she had said in a low voice. "We need to get back to Dad and Daddy and your mom without Mr Tyler seeing, and it's going to be difficult if we're all the way up here."

It was only really when she had said it out loud that she realised how important it was that Mr Tyler didn't see them. She had always liked him before, both in counselling sessions and in the corridors, but she was sure now that it had been him that had done whatever he had done to all the pupils. They were all following his commands, and added to that, she had seen the expression on the Doctor's face when he saw him. Mr Tyler wasn't just any teacher any more. He was something dangerous.

She had stood up then and started to walk around the room. She knew that wouldn't seem to suspicious. In fact, it would have looked more suspicious if she'd stayed still. She wasn't the kind of person to stay still.

She had tried not to seem frustrated again when Alex had caught up with her and stood in front of her.

"Grace," she had said, almost sternly. "Stop it."

"We need to find a way out," she had said again, through gritted teeth. "Alex, please."

Alex had leaned in a little closer. "I've got a way out," she said in a low voice. "Come on."

That was certainly new, and Grace had straightened up a little in surprise. It wasn't often that Alex had the confidence to come up with anything, let alone something that would save their lives. Not that she was sorry. It was really a very good time to suddenly have a breakthrough.

She had followed Alex completely trustingly. After all, she did trust Alex. Completely. Even as she started to have doubts about where they were going, she had continued following Alex through a door that seemed to lead to the bathrooms and then into the bathroom itself. She had waited patiently while Alex closed the door behind them and then as she had picked up a chair and used it to block the door.

It was only when Alex opened the door to a cubicle, stood on the toilet and pointed to the tiny window above it that she stopped.

"You have got to be kidding."

"Grace, relax," she said, smiling a little. "It's safe, I promise. There's a ledge we can walk along which goes onto the lower roof with a bit of jumping and climbing. It's not that hard to get down from there. Anyway, you're good at climbing."

Grace had stared at her in amazement. "How the hell did you know all that?"

Starting to wrench the window open, Alex had laughed slightly to herself. "You remember how Mrs Mead used to always give me detention? Well, she used to hold detention up here, washing aprons, and then she'd only come back after the two hours were up, so…" She had trailed off then, and Grace had been even more amazed.

"Alex," she had said, completely shocked now. "You escaped from detention?"

"Yes, and then came back so Mrs Mead never knew," she had said, almost casually, as she gave the window a final push and it opened. "Good job I did, really."

"You can say that again," Grace had mumbled to herself as Alex started to climb out the window.

###

It hadn't been easy getting down from the roof, despite what Alex said, especially as Grace was barely out the window when someone started to try and open the door. Getting caught didn't bear thinking about, but somehow Grace had become more worried about falling to her death as they walked along the ledge, flat against the wall. Obviously Alex had done the journey so many times that it had nearly become mundane to her, but Grace was worried.

She had barely been able to stand up when she had jumped the final jump and landed on the ground, because of the relief of being off the roof as well as the adrenaline, but she knew they couldn't stop. As soon as she had landed, she jumped up again, grabbing Alex and stumbling as little as she could as she ran as fast as she could to the sport's hall.

Grace practically hurled herself through the door, astonished that there were no guards or anything. Obviously Mr Tyler had been so sure they wouldn't get away that he hadn't bothered. That was his mistake.

She could hear urgent voices as she and Alex ran in and pulled open the doors of the gymnasium. There she could see everyone – her dads, Alex's mum, the Doctor, Mr Williams and Miss Pond – pushed up against the back wall, trapped.

Trapped, that was, until her and Grace had arrived.

"What do you need, Doctor?" she had heard Alex's mum say, staring straight at the Doctor just as they entered.

Grace had smiled then. "Maybe us?" she had said, rather proud.


	14. 14

**14**

For a second, all the adults just stood staring at Grace and Alex, slightly bemused, but then there was a huge explosion of voices all at once.

"Grace!"

"Alex!"

"What are you doing here?"

"How did you… I mean…"

"That's my girl!"

"Oh you beauties! You absolute beauties!"

And for a moment, Grace and Alex had stood enjoying the attention, but then they had remembered the situation they were in.

"How do you reckon we get you out, though?" said Alex, slightly worried, as her and Grace started to search the walls and cupboards for an off-switch, or something equally useful. Automatically, the whole hall stared at the Doctor, who considered for a minute.

"If you reach in my pocket," he said slowly, still thinking, "then-"

That was when he seemed to realised something, and his eyes widened.

"I didn't mean that, I didn't mean that," he said hastily. "All I meant was, I just need my sonic screwdriver out."

"Maybe if…" said Alex slowly. "This might sound silly, but I was just thinking that maybe if we move your arms (me and Grace move your arms, I mean) then maybe we can move them to your pocket and you can get your screwdriver out yourself."

"No," said Grace bluntly, starting to continue her search along the walls.

"Why?"

"Because… that's stupid," she said incredulously. "That's obviously not going to work."

"It's not stupid," said Alex indignantly. "Oddly enough, I don't want to put my hand in his pocket, and-"

"Ah well, you're still young."

As Jack said that, everyone turned to look at him. Though it was obviously meant as a joke, they could all hear how breathless he was, and could hear the pain in his voice. Despite the light-hearted tone, it had immediately dampened the mood.

"Look, it'll be fine," said Grace desperately. "We'll find something, OK, Daddy?"


End file.
